Camp Giddings

Author:Mike Mangus, The Ohio State University
Published: January 18, 2011Updated: May 02, 2011

With the Civil War’s outbreak, both the North and the South were ill prepared for the conflict. Ohio Governor William Dennison hoped to utilize the state’s militia forces to assist President Abraham Lincoln in reuniting the nation.

With the Civil War’s outbreak, both the North and the South were ill
prepared for the conflict. Ohio Governor William Dennison hoped to utilize the
state’s militia forces to assist President Abraham Lincoln in reuniting the
nation. Unfortunately for Dennison, many of Ohio’s militia units were no longer
in existence. Those units that continued to operate were primarily social
organizations that rarely practiced military maneuvers. Following the
Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1861,
President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers to subdue the
Confederate States of America. Despite the lack of a well-trained militia,
Governor Dennison beseeched communities to send their militia companies to
Columbus, Ohio for possible use by the North during the American Civil War.

To process Ohio’s volunteers, Governor Dennison ordered the creation of Camp
Jackson at Columbus. To help speed soldiers’ inductions into Ohio’s military,
Dennison soon authorized the establishment of other camps across the state,
including Camp Giddings at Jefferson, Ohio. Camp Giddings remained in use only
during 1861. Officials named Camp Giddings in honor of Joshua Giddings, an
abolitionist and member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio.
The 29th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry organized at Camp Giddings in August
1861.